LAW 1354 v00
:
Best Practices for Justice: Prosecutors Working to Improve the Criminal Justice System

Last edit: Mon, 05 Feb 2018 16:33:50 GMT

Druthers submitted by: kh897

Semester

Fall

Division

JD Adjunct

Instructors

UserID

Name

Email

kh897

Hamann, Kristine

khamann@pceinc.org

par60

Riley, Patricia

prileydc@gmail.com

Course

LAW 1354 v00: Best Practices for Justice: Prosecutors Working to Improve the Criminal Justice System

Title

Best Practices for Justice: Prosecutors Working to Improve the Criminal Justice System

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Enrollment Limit:

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Days and Times:

Th 10:00a-12:00p

Proposed Dates (mini-courses only):

Enrollment Limit:

10

Final Course Requirement:

Special Requirement

Assessment types:

Describe “Other”:

Learning Objectives:

Home Program

J.D.

Is Crosslisted:

No

Course Type

Practicum

Course Credits

4

Practicum Type

Project-Based

Course Description:

In a project-based practicum course, students participate in a weekly seminar and work on a project under the supervision of the professors. This project-based practicum course will work with the Prosecutors’ Center for Excellence to focus on emerging issues of importance to prosecutors and will provide opportunities for doing research that will support the growing national movement of prosecutors who are developing statewide Best Practices Committees. Students will participate in a two hour/week seminar and carry out 10 hours/week of project work under the direction of the course professors.

SEMINAR: The criminal justice system is undergoing a period of re-examination and reform. The Prosecutors’ Center for Excellence (PCE) is working with prosecutors to improve the criminal justice system and to assess emerging issues. PCE supports the development and growth of statewide Best Practices Committees that provide an on-going process for prosecutors to be part of this national discussion. Twenty states have formed such committees, with more states in the development phase. The critical topics being addressed by Best Practices Committees and covered in the practicum will be:

Concerns about identification of the perpetrator, including current research on memory and development of identification procedures

Ensuring the integrity of statements of the accused, including interrogation methods, articles on false confessions, and recording of statements

Managing forensic evidence, including new forensic science, laboratory standards, and dealing with problems in forensic science

Exploring the challenges of digital evidence, including using digital evidence for investigative purposes, privacy vs. public safety, and ethics and digital evidence

Engaging in an understanding of prosecutorial ethics, including law enforcement ethics and conviction integrity units

Reducing crime and building community trust, including community prosecution, crime strategy units, and research on crime prevention

PROJECT WORK: Under the direction of the professors, students will engage in:

Legal work for the Prosecutors’ Center for Excellence, which supports practicing prosecutors and the growing number of statewide Best Practices Committees for prosecutors. More specifically, students may work on emerging issues facing the criminal justice system relating to: identification procedures, statements of the accused, forensic evidence, digital evidence, ethics, and how to reduce crime and build community trust. Students will have individual or group assignments, depending on the topic. Students may also draft materials for the National Resource Center for Prosecutors, which is a resource that gathers and categorizes articles on policy issues of importance to statewide Best Practices Committees for prosecutors.

Research for Prosecutors’ Statewide Best Practices Committee. Students may serve statewide Best Practices Committees by responding to needs for research on pressing issues in a particular state. Students may also participate in developing ways to enhance the functioning of Best Practices Committees and how to maximize the dissemination of information about emerging issues and innovative practices. Finally, students may participate in some Best Practices Committee meetings.

Prerequisite Courses:

J.D. students must complete the required first-year program prior to enrolling in this course (part-time and interdivisional transfer students may enroll prior to completing Criminal Justice, Property, or their first-year elective). A course in criminal law is recommended, but not required.

Strongly Recommended Courses:

Recommended Courses:

Mutually Exclusive Courses:

Students may not concurrently enroll in this practicum course and a clinic, or another practicum course. Students may concurrently enroll in this practicum course and an externship.

Additional Course Notes:

This practicum course is open to LL.M. students, space permitting. Interested LL.M. students should email Louis Fine (fine@law.georgetown.edu) to request admission.

This course may be suitable for evening students who can commit to attending class and undertaking 10 hours/week of project work. Much of the project work may be done outside of business hours.

This is a four credit course. Two credits will be awarded for the two-hour weekly seminar and two credits will be awarded for approximately 10 hours of supervised project work per week, for a minimum of 11 weeks. Both the seminar and the project work will be graded.

Students who enroll in this course will be automatically enrolled in both the seminar and project components and may not take either component separately. After Add/Drop, a student who wishes to withdraw from a practicum course must obtain permission from the faculty member and the Assistant Dean for Experiential Education. The Assistant Dean will grant such withdrawal requests only when remaining enrolled in the practicum would cause significant hardship for the student. A student who is granted permission to withdraw will be withdrawn from both the seminar and project components.

Default attendance rule for all practicum courses (unless the professor indicates otherwise): Regular and punctual attendance is required at all practicum seminars and fieldwork placements. Students in project-based practicum courses are similarly required to devote the requisite number of hours to their project. If a student must miss seminar, fieldwork, or project work, he or she must speak to the professor as soon as possible to discuss the absence. Unless the professor indicates otherwise, a student with more than one unexcused absence from the practicum seminar (out of 13 total seminar sessions), or one week of unexcused absences from the fieldwork or project work (out of a total of 11 weeks of fieldwork or project work), may receive a lower grade or, at the professor’s discretion, may be withdrawn from the practicum course.

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